All the way from Norway

We usually get together on the Allred side each fast Sunday for dinner. This month we were treated to a fancy and foreign Norwegian holiday feast since Grandma had spent some time in Norway and wanted to let our family experience a little bit of this far off place where our cousins live.

We ate sausage and parsnips and cabbage, boiled potatoes, fish and sweet rolls. It was interesting and different and definitely foreign to some of us. It was a good "mission meal" test for my boys. "Now what would you do if this was served to you on your mission?" We have this test often in our home to get them to try things they don't like to eat.

It usually doesn't work.

For dessert we had rice pudding, the traditional Norwegian Christmas Eve dessert and one lucky person found an almond in their bowl. Whoever found it got a wonderful surprise. A marzipan pig. My kids were fascinated.


After dinner we gathered around Grandma to hear about Norwegian Christmas traditions.

(See that little guy in the front, that is the Nisse, the Norwegian version of Santa.)

We learned about St. Lucia, and the festival of lights.

My girls were thrilled to demonstrate and pass out gingersnaps.

And then the doorbell rang.

And right there on the doorstep was the cutest little Nisse you have ever seen.

All the way from Norway!

He brought bags of treats and candy for everyone.

I sure love that Nissa. And I love Grandma for putting together this wonderful festive evening. How do you say thank you in Norwegian? OK, I have no idea.

But, thank you thank you in plain old English!

We had a great time!

live

Last year for the first time we went to a Live Nativity. We had such a great experience we decided we wanted to make it a tradition. So we headed out again this year. It was up in Alpine and it was FREEZING! I am talking like 19 degrees freezing. It was bitter cold. But we braved the cold, bundled up and we began our journey.

Please pay no attention to those boots on my feet. They are hideous old fashioned grandma snow boots (especially hideous with skinny jeans). And nobody was supposed to see them. It was dark and I didn't realize that the picture Trevor was snapping of us warming up by the fire with hot chocolate was a full body shot. Embarrassing, yes, but did they keep my feet warm, totally!

OK, lets get back to the nativity please and get as far away as we can from those boots!


Along the path to Jerusalem we visited with a donkey.

And chatted with some camels.

We really liked the camels.

We were stopped several times by the soldiers who were looking for the baby Jesus.

And then we entered the bustling city of Jerusalem.

Inside we saw carpenters, leather workers, pottery makers, seamstresses, and basket weavers.

We ate unleavened bread and saw animals, sheep, geese and more camels.
We enjoyed it all very much.

But this is why we really came.

We passed the angles singing to get to the stable.

We felt the spirit.

And despite the cold weather, our hearts were warm.

the scout with a spear

Bryson came home so excited from Scouts the other day.

His leaders are his heros because they made spears with real arrowheads as the tips for their activity.

They totally made spears!

I'm just hoping he doesn't use it on anyone around here.

He kind of looks ready too, doesn't he?

trees, trees, trees

The Festival of Trees is always a great way to kick off the Christmas season. As usual, we had a great time.

We even had time this year to do a little browsing in the "little" tree section.

Ashlyn, as usual, was drawn to the book tree.

And Ethan chose the spider tree as his favorite.


Here are some of our other favorites this year:

I enjoyed this "Seasons" tree.
It wasn't the most fancy or anything.
I just really love the changing seasons.


We enjoyed the "Up" tree.

And of course, "The Christmas Story" tree, complete with the little boy with his tongue stuck to a pole as the tree topper.

(Too bad, I cut off his head in my picture)

And who can resist a tree made entirely out of fancy barbies? Not us!

Another great year at this great festival of great and meaningful trees.

the 1st

It is December 1st and we are excited around here.

We are ready for some holiday magic.

The first thing we do on December 1st is open the little window on our chocolate charts marked #1. There really is no better way to start the next 24 days than with a little chocolate. Sends everyone out the door in a good mood.

That's kinda what chocolate does.

We also get out our Christmas decorations. This brings back such fond memories for me. I can still remember standing at the bottom of the ladder as my dad came down from the attic carrying box after box of dusty Christmas decor. It was so very exciting to lift those lids and find our cherished Christmas treasures. We too have collected some pretty great Christmas treasures over the years and although we don't have a dusty attic we do have a dusty garage and that works just fine for us.

My little girls were so excited to help. The boys didn't really care, so they were off doing other things, but not my girlies. They carefully unpacked each item, oohed and ahhed over it all and then took great care to put everything in it's proper place.

I am grateful they love the magic of Christmas decorating just like I did when I was a little girl.

It was so much more fun doing it with them by my side.

My boys did emerge from the cracks and crevices when it was time to set up the train.

And now our home is ready.

Let the magic begin!

November Randon

Enjoyed some snuggles and reading time with our "Nonnie."

What is that Christmas book doing out in November?!

Went to an end of the season banquet for Brandon's football team. He was chosen as the MVP for the defensive backs, hence the trophy with his name on it which he is very proud of. I am too.

Loved watching him play football.

Love that it's over.

Endured getting family pictures taken for the Christmas card. Always something I dread so much. But my kids were good, the weather cooperated, and out of the 100's we took, I think we will be able to find one that works. Yea!

And that's all for November. It was a relatively quiet month around here. No games or practices, no major commitments or projects, just more time to be together, more time to unwind, just more....time.

And for that I am thankful, because it doesn't happen often.

Now, bring on December!

Lego party

Ethan is all of a sudden into Legos.

So he really wanted a Lego birthday party this year. Not a problem, I have done Lego parties before, I can easily do one again.

Plus...

... I have bins and bins of Legos all over this house, which makes planning and carrying out this party pretty darn easy and pretty darn cheap. So we went ahead with it and here are the results.


The table.
Classic Lego colors of red, blue, green and yellow. The one detail you can't see in this picture, which I'm guessing non of the boys noticed either, was the six circles drawn on the napkins to make them look like giant Legos. I scattered Lego pieces all over the table and propped up some Lego books. In the goody bags I put a can of soda, several small candy bars, airheads, a sucker and a bag of those small candy Lego bricks. I also put some of the candy Legos on top of the cupcakes.

Each game and activity had a colored Lego attached to it. The boys would pick a Lego out of a bowl and whatever color they picked, that is the game/activity we would do.

The first Lego chosen was gray which meant we started off with the Lego shuffle. We cranked some birthday music and the boys walked around the circle. When the music stopped they jumped on a certain color and if I picked that color Lego out of the bowl they got a piece of candy. If I chose the color white, everyone got a candy. We did this over and over again until they had all gotten their fill of candy.

Brown was chosen next so we played the Lego Toss. They all picked out 10 Legos and then had to try to toss them into the different size bowls. Very basic game, but they enjoyed it, especially when they got a sweet point when a Lego would hit the carpet first and then bounce into the bowl. Now that is exciting.

Yellow meant the Lego spoon relay. They divided into 2 teams and each had to take a spoon and scoop as many Legos as they could and then carry them across the room to dump in a small bowl. After each boy had a turn we added up all of the Legos to see who had the most.

My favorite game at this party was the "guess my Mini-figure" game. I came up with this idea literally minutes before the party. I taped different mini- figures to an index card and then put them in some headbands from another game we had. They couldn't see their own mini-figure and each had to ask different questions to guess who they were.

They loved this game as much as I did.

(Their mini-figures were Yoda, a pirate, Harry Potter, Doby, a clown, Darth Vader and Indiana Jones)

The green brick sent them on a hunt for mini-figures. I had hidden about 40 (yes we have over 40 mini-figures) around the living room. They came back and counted them out. I also gave a special prize to the person who had found the mer-man mini-figure. Really? A mer-man? You have got to give a special prize for that one.

I strategically made sure they picked the red brick last. Red was the Lego sort. All of the Legos had gotten mixed up after all the games. I dumped them all out in front of them, set the timer and told them to sort the colors, which they happily and frantically did to beat the time. And then my party was all cleaned up.

Brilliant, if I do say so myself.

We also enjoyed opening presents (mostly Legos, of coarse ) eating cake and ice cream, watching parts of a free Lego DVD that came with the Lego magazine my boys get (which the boys were glued to and could have probably watched the whole time) and just some plain old creative Lego building. It was a success. An easy, cheap (I think the whole party cost me under $15) success.

And my boy was happy.

And that's really what makes it all worth it.

Happy Building!

Eto

Seven years ago, while most of the world was out frantically shopping on Black Friday, I was sitting in a quiet hospital room holding the greatest gift. A gift that couldn't be bought in any of those overcrowded stores.

I was holding my perfect little boy.

I was holding my Ethan.

How do you celebrate seven years? How do you let your child know how much you love him and how grateful you are that he is yours?

Well, actually, for our seven year old it was pretty easy this year. We slipped away from the after Thanksgiving bustle at our house for a quiet lunch buffet at Pizza Pie Cafe. It was just the 3 of us, Mom, Dad and the man of honor, Ethan. He loved the attention and chattered the whole time. And he almost broke his record of eating 8 pieces of pizza.

Almost.

He could not wait to open his presents. He just couldn't. So, he ripped into them in the early afternoon. And then we quickly headed off to Walmart because that birthday money was already burning a hole in his pocket. We returned with a big Lego set, a ninjago, mini figures and 2 bionicles. These kept him and his siblings busy for the rest of the day.

I am so thankful for this one.
He is such a good boy. He is happy and friendly and easy going. He is so smart and does so well in school. He loves to play board games and read big huge chapter books. He loves to play baseball, soccer and football with anyone who is willing to play with him. He is a good friend and is well liked.
He is my son, my thanksgiving treat, my little turkey.




He is a sweet one, that's for sure.
Sweeter than any pie Thanksgiving could ever offer.

Happy Birthday Eto!
I love the stuffing out of you!

thanks and giving always

I absolutely love Thanksgiving.

And I love all of the traditions that accompany this glorious holiday.

I love the tradition of family getting together.

The more the merrier over here. I grew up having Thanksgiving every year with only my immediate family. That was cozy and quaint and all I knew, but for me now, extended family, cousins, grandparents and friends- that's what makes it special.

I love the tradition of good food.

Trevor and I wrestled with this bird for 2 days getting it ready for its big debut. I'm telling you brining a turkey is the way to go. Delicious. It deserved a picture. We also had a stuffing showdown as well as a sweet potato contest. The outcome was divided. All recipes will be back next year. You can never have too much food on Thanksgiving.

I love the tradition of the kitchen bustle.

Everyone working together to present the perfect meal. The smells from my house that day were to die for.

I love the tradition of gathering around the table.

Of eating and visiting and sharing what we are most thankful for. I love being together.

I love the relaxed and lazy state after the big meal.

I love that they ate so much turkey they had to sleep it off.

I love the tradition of football on Thanksgiving.

I really do. I love that my family played in 2 turkey bowls in the morning (one with the ward and one with family). I love that the boys played football outside both before and after the meal. I also love that the weather was perfect for it this year.

I love football on Thanksgiving so much that I don't even mind that it is on all day inside, while they are playing it outside. Football is a part of Thanksgiving around here.

I love the ads from the 10 pound newspaper that comes on Thanksgiving morning.

I love looking through them, circling our intended targets and plotting our shopping strategy.
(Although I did not enjoy the sales starting on what my sisters and I have now named "Brown Thursday" Where did my Black Friday go?)

I love playing games that all ages can participate in and enjoy, like an exciting round of turkey races or...

...a rousing game of reverse charades.

I love the competition, the noise and the laughter that fills my home when we all play games together. I wish we did it more often.

I love Thanksgiving.

But mostly I love the people and feelings that go along with this day.

We have much to be thankful for this year.

And this particular Thanksgiving day, filled with family and traditions and food and love did not disappoint.